Hospital room walls behind beds are commonly in constant need of repair do to the beds being pushed too close to the wall, then raised or lowered. The bumpers supplied with the beds are not adequate enough and sometimes tear into the walls themselves. Much of the damage is caused because the person operating the bed does not see the bumper come in contact with the adjacent wall yet continues to elevate or lower the bed without realizing the damage being done to the wall surface.
With increase in technology, electric hospital beds are becoming more affordable, resulting in an increased amount of electric beds being utilized in hospitals, nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities and in some cases assisted living facilities. With this growth there has been a major development plaguing the maintenance staff of these facilities. All such beds have the ability to be adjusted in height to better suit the resident's needs. Some of these beds are called “high/low beds” which will set all the way down to the floor for the residents that are at risk for falling. Very few, if any, of these electric beds raise or lower in a completely vertical motion. They all have a horizontal motion, though slight on some, and more on others, which causes the problem of adjacent wall damage.
Repair to the walls is a constant issue and obviously costly. Once the joint compound is applied and sanded for painting, the wall is painted and must be allowed to dry before the bed can be placed back in position. This can take a 3-5 hour period depending on the repair depth. In some cases, a section of wallboard needs to be removed and replaced for a proper repair and this takes extra time. Unfortunately, in many cases, a wall can be repeatedly repaired due to the reoccurrence of damage.
What is needed is a device that after contact with the wall, can shut off the power to the bed operating circuit so lowering or elevating can stop and can not continue until the bed is pulled away from the adjacent wall so as to complete the lifting or lowering operation.